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it is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. c-span, minnesota governor mark dayton announces his appointment of lieutenant governor tina smith to replace senator al franken, who amid allegations of sexual misconduct. >> the minnesota constitution assigns me the responsibility to fill the upcoming vacancy in the united states senate. i have given this important decision the most careful consideration. first and foremost, i want to appoint the person who i believe best represents the people of minnesota in this senate. i selected our outstanding lieutenant-governor tina smith. [applause] i have worked with many superb public officials during my 40 year career.

tina stands first and foremost among them. she's extremely intelligent, quick to learn, always open to views. other's she generally likes people and people like her. she has impeccable integrity in the highest personal and professional standards. she will be a senator of whom all minnesotans can be proud of. she hass minnesota, traveled extensively throughout our state, she knows the citizens, our challenges, and opportunities. we worked closely together during the past seven years, she deserves great credit for the administration's achievements. decision, ig my listened to many minnesotans who shared their views with me. with this final -- this final decision is my own. it's based entirely upon my convictions that tina smith will

be the best possible senator for the people of minnesota. it is now my honor to introduce minnesota's next state senator tina smith. [applause] tina: good morning, thank you very much governor dayton. i accept this appointment. it will be my great honor to serve minnesota as united states senator. though i never anticipated this moment, i resolved to do everything i can to move minnesota forward. inill be a fierce advocate the united states senate for economic opportunity and fairness. this is a difficult moment for us, but even now i am still with optimism for minnesota. welcoming, diverse,

and resilient place that has been my home for over 30 years. i have traveled everywhere in minnesota. being elected lieutenant governor is like being invited into minnesota's living room. i talked to people in their homes, their jobs, city hall, places of worship. we talked about what worries them, what keeps them up at night, what gives them hope. i have learned a lot from that. . minnesota has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. i have heard stories from families who are working two full-time jobs and are still struggling to find a good place to live. minnesota has some of the best schools. but i have talked to mom's faced with driving 50 miles every day to get their child to a good preschool. minnesota has more people with health insurance than almost any other state. yet i have talked to farmers who have lost access to their longtime doctors and can't afford the health insurance premiums. minnesota iron built this

country. i talked to rangers worried about their small towns. one ofta is often named the best states for women. even here, women still earn less than men. women of color and native american women have even fewer opportunities. we have so much opportunity in this state and country, but we have so much work to do to make sure that opportunity is broadly shared. paul wellstone said often we all do better when we all do better. i will serve minnesota in the senate, guided by these words, and led by these minnesota stories. ago, wer three years reelected senator franken with a mandate to work hard to keep minnesota moving forward, to improve people's lives. with his decision to step down, it is the responsibility of our government to find a person to fill this vacant spot.

my job will be to go to washington dc to continue working on behalf of minnesota and our country. i will do this in my own way, using my own best judgment and experience, but always with the people of minnesota in mind. minnesotans to decide for themselves who they want to complete senator i will run in that election and i will do my best to earn minnesotans' support and i believe the way to do that is by being the best senator they can be. i want to thank senator franking for his service. he has been a champion if for our state and i know that he and frannie will continue to work for our state and our country. and i want to thank his statue as well as here and in washington, d.c. for your work

to help minnesota. you do that every day in thousands of ways. this work continues and we still need you. i want to take a moment also to express my deep gratitude for the opportunity to serve with governor mark daten. i have seen how mark brings integrity, heart and a packs for justice to his job. he's an exceptional leader and i'm so proud to have served with him. the men and bill in our office and the 34,000 people who everyone? state government are some of the best, most dedicated public servants that i have ever known. i have loved this job. my family is here today. didn't want to stand too close. my husband archie. our sons sam and mason and their wives and our daughters emily and julia. i'm so proud of you have. i love you and i'm so grateful for your love and support. finally, i want to thank the people of minnesota for this

opportunity to have served you in the state capital and for your support and encouragement as i become your senator. you know, the governor keeps a sign in his office that says none of us is as smart as all of us and i will take my own version of that sign with me to washington, d.c. as a reminder to have wisdom of my phlegm minnesotans. the senate seat has a strong abiding legacy of service and social justice that runs back to walter mondale and hubert hum frills. as i take this position in this extraordinary time we're in, i'll due my best to use in legacy and move it forward for a more justice future for all of us. thank you very much and the governor and i will be happy to take a few questions. >> governor, you said this decision was -- did you get a lot of pressure from national dwrots on who you should choose?

>> the only person in washington i spoke with outside of our minnesotans in our congressional delegation was senate democratic leader chuck schumer. he did not express a view about who the selection should be. he does believe that the person should run for the office next year. he has a strong and legitimate stake in this decision as the democratic leader and he obviously wants to hold the seat next year but i didn't get pressure and the decision is mine and tina's decision to run for the seat next year is her decision. >> any concerns you might be perceived as being kind of the king maker here? >> well, queen maker. [laughter]

>> i do what the constitution of minnesota instrunths -- ininstructs me to do. it's unequivocal that the governor appoints someone to fill the vacancy until the next general election which will be in november of 2018. and as tina said, that's when minnesotans will decide, properly so, the remainder of the term. i'm doing what the cons tuelings of minnesota gives me the responsibility to do. >> i'd like to respond to that too. i think anybody who knows the voters of minnesota know that they can't be told what to do and my purpose is to go out and ask for those voters' supports and that is my job to do and that is an important part of this story that we're telling ere today.

[inaudible] >> well, this is an extraordinary moment and in moments like there, you have to ask myself, i had so ask myself, what was the best way for me to serve, what contribution could i make? as i did that assessment it became clear to me that i'm prayer papered to do this -- prepare told do this i'm qualified to do this. i have a unique role to play here and after that assessment it was a very easy decision for me to make. >> you presumably will have a republican if the current session remains? >> i don't have all of those analysis. i'm not a lawyer. 'm told by my in-house legal counsel and the state stau statute is clear the -- becomes

the lieutenant governor and she cannot hold two offices simultaneously but i've asked the attorney general for a formal opinion. made that request in writing yesterday. expect to receive that answer shortly. my goal and to asthurep minnesotans that i'm following and we're all following what's prescribed in the minnesota constitution and statute without favor to one side or another and that will be what i will carry out to do. if there are those who want to consider a special session or something of that nature, i aren't -- haven't really considered it at all myself. the same session i've had for special sessions previously. all tour caucus leaders would have to agree in writing the limits. again, i'm not going to pursue

that. i'm well prepared and looking forward to working with senator fish back. i've talked to her before this event and i'll follow up and see if she's available next friday. if not, next week and i look forward to working cooperatively with her. [inaudible] >> senator -- and i talked. he broached the subject. it was premature until i made the decision. i've not had nip lengthy discussion with him. again, i'm not going to pursue a special session. i'm final with the law and constitution as they exist and i'll follow them as they exist unless someone proposes to in ome legal way to at they are sequence. [inaudible] -- do you think there could be -- president

[inaudible] t -- >> i am going to be completely focused on the next couple of weeks on becoming a senator and moving in this january. and i'm not going to be focused on the discussion that's going on in washington right now. i want to say, though, that sexual harassment is disrespectful to people and it can't be tolerated and that i think it's quite interesting. we're in the middle of a sort of sea change in attitudes about this right now. i think in some ways this sea change is being led by young women who tell women of my generation that maybe some of the things we put up with during our lives, we shouldn't have to put up with and that is a good thing and it is so important

that we don't slide backward, that we continue to move forward and i can promise you i'll be working on these issues when i get to washington, d.c. but that will be in january. >> do you have any idea when senator frank season going to leave and when you can take over? >> i've spoken with senator franken and i know that he made the decision he made thinking about what was best for minnesotans. i respect the decision that he made and i think the important thing now is to figure out a way to move forward and that is what i'm completely focused on. >> has he told you when he'll be resign something >> pardon memory. the franken staff is working to finds the details of this. their number one concern is that the transition works smoothly for their staff ask we expect to it happen the very first part of january. the franken staff is wildly respected here on capitol hill

and in washington. across party lines. there's an outstanding staff. i will talk with them this afternoon and i'm sure there'll be lots of questions but i hope that most of them are many of them can continues to serve the state. no, that will just be to their office in st. paul. >> will someone take over for new rochester? will you still be involved? >> this is an unanticipated moment and there are lots of issues we have to work on in terms of transition and that will be one of my top priorities, to work on that transition, so i can't tell you will exactly what we'll do there but that is the most important economic development project, largest, that has ever happened in this state. it is incelled blip important to me, not only as lieutenant governor but also as senator that that project proceeds well.

>> did you give any consideration to governor carlson's suggestion that you hold off until after the ethics process? >> senator franken made it clear when he made his announcements that his intention was to resign and has affirmed that in everything i've seen and heard since. so it was on that basis that i've been proceeding. >> do you have anything in writing from senator franken? >> i don't have anything in writing, no. >> for the state legislature, you waited until you had resignations in writing before. >> i'm announcing today my intention to announce the lieutenant governor to the senate vacancy assuming that it occurs. i'm not going to speculate otherwise and i'm not signing any documents today either way. i know senator franken is a man

of his word and he gave this a great deal of very intense thought and again, i fully expect that he will follow through and resign, as tina said in early january and this will be a smooth transition and the people of minnesota will be served by two united states senators on a continuing basis. >> did you ever consider anybody else for the job, including a person of color? >> i considered a number of people. there are so many extremely well-qualified people in minnesota who would be superb in this position so i certainly considered a number of other people, got a great deal of advice, both solicited and unsolicited, which is understandable. i listened to them all and considered carefully and tina is my decision and i'm very confident i made the right decision. >> governor, how many people were on your short list? > over the last five days.

this was not expected and i didn't really -- i certainly thought about it prior to senator franken's announcement but well didn't do any due diligence or didn't bring in other people into the circle of conversation and that's been part of the process for the last five days and there were considerations about tina's replacement and the factors there. so it's been a process and it's one that is now concluded and my focus is on going back to being the best governor i can for the people of minnesota and tina's focus is on serving the people of minnesota as best she can, assuming that she officially becomes a united states senator. >> how will you be different from senator franken? what can minnesotans expect? >> senator franken has been a

real champion for this state and he's worked on issues of importance like mental health for children and cracking down on some of the bad things that are happening in our finance sector in this country and i respect his work but i will take on this role in my own way using my own judgment and experience and that's what i can tell you. that, i think, is the most important thing. >> lieutenant governor, how will you respond when you run for the seat on your own to your work on planned parenthood? >> the work i did with planned parenthood helped to provide health insurance, health care and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and cancer screenings to thousands and thousands of women. i'm proud of that work. >> it's not on your bio. >> it is on my bio. >> how about on your linkedin

page? >> i don't have a linkedin page. [laughter] >> let us know when you get one. >> if i do have a linkedin page, i didn't know. we'll leave it at that. [inaudible] >> i absolutely whole hardly the t tina smith for democratic senate nomination and i home that the people of minnesota will elect her in november of 2018. i intend to be alive then. [laughter] and at least a couple of months thereafter. it's a valid concern. anything could happen to anybody in this world and in an ideal world, this would not be unfolding but in the reality of

the options, the choices that were available and again, my top whority is giving minnesota i believe will be the very best united states senator starting the day she takes this office and i think she'll prove that too minnesota scombrans that was the overriding consideration. look forward to working with fish back and she becomes the lieutenant governor and i'll do my best to stay healthy so that she gets to be lieutenant governor for the next 400 and some days. >> -- want to run for a special election? >> i was undecided when this process began and i i've gotten different points of view on both sides of this question but when i finally considered all the aspects it was clear i wanted

someone who would run for the seat next year. >> can you explain why that's important to you? >> it gives minnesotans someone to size up and assess in the real world of washington politics and senate as much as and i hope it has the benefit of iting our party behind two outstanding united states senators, amy cove shar and tina smith. i'm a democrat, obviously. it's a democratic seat right now and i want to do whatever i can to have it be held by a democrat into 2019, 2020. >> i want to just say one thing about that. ic it's really important also to remember, if i go in when i go in and i am planning on running for re-election -- running for

election, pardon me in 2008, i am demonstrating that i have a commitment to this job and that is so important. there is so much good that can be done for minnesota over the next 11 months, especially when -- if you have a senator what is committed to working to stay there and that was upper most in my mind as i thought about this decision. >> it could cost $10 million or more to wage this campaign in 2018. are you confident you can do that and turn around again and run in 2020? it could be your full-time job, raising money. >> the conversation about campaigns and elections, i want to wait for another day but i shouldn't be underestimated and if i weren't confident, i wouldn't be doing this >> very good. [applause]

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. isit ncicap.org] announcer: sunday night on "afterwards" washington examiner-editor keith cockler on his book bannan: always the rebel is interviewed hi -- by -- blican >> you've spent a lot of time with steven bannan. you've heard his goals and talked about what he wants to do. what olds do you give him for being able to reach those dwoles? >> huh, you want he to be utterly honest or hopeful? >> both. >> i did come to agree with a

lot of what he says. i think there is a decent chance information nk ban electorate that the has already changed. then the general election. despite trump and a lot of controversy, they elected him. i think bannan believes that already the longing for populism and nationalism is there. he believes it's already victorious among the base but where it hasn't changed is in washington. where it hasn't changed is in the leadership this some parts of remember party, thrarl the -- particularly the senate which he's going after now. and that's what's driving him. >> watch sunday night at 9:00 p.m. eastern on san span 2's -- c-span 2's book tv.

>> washington journal live every day with news ask issues that impact you. sunday morning we'll discuss the coming vote on the final tax reform bill with grover norquist and andy green. also, rand corporations's seth jones on -- u.s. homeland over the holiday season. washington journal live beginning at 7:00 a.m. eastern, sunday morning. join the discussion. >> several democratic women lawmakers calling for an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against president trump held a news conference last week. here's a look. >> ok, start where we said we would. got everybody here?